1962 Corvettes and the 327

Sebring 1962: With the debut of the 327 cubic-inch small block V8 engine, 7 Corvettes showed up at Sebring with anticipation of making a name for themselves. Grady Davis entered two of them, the #1 was driven by Don Yenko and Ed Lowther, and the #2 was driven by Duncan Black and M.R.J “Doc” Wyllie. Grady Davis wanted to establish the Corvette as a competitive sports car and did what was needed to have these two prepared for the grueling 12 Hours of torture that Sebring was known for. Working for Gulf Oil, these cars would make a good test lab for the company’s fuels and lubricants. On race day, all 7 Vettes got off to a decent start. Unfortunately, most of them had things go wrong, some more than others, and most of the problems weren’t engine performance related. The Corvettes had their fill of just bad luck…broken battery cables, starter solenoids going bad, a flat tire, a jack in the pits taking out taillight wiring, etc… To top it off, the #1 went off course at the Esses and broke off the driver side headlight section, prompting a pit stop for repairs to it. Both entries would spend over an hour of time during the race in the pits being fixed. In the end, 4 of the 7 Corvettes finished the race with the #2 having the best finish at 18th overall. The #1 would finish 2 laps behind its sister car in 19th overall. So, even though none finished in the top 10, they still showed the potential to win if things went their way on race day.

The #1 exiting Webster. The headlight damage was from a runoff at the Esses.

The #2 crossing the start/finish line during practice.

Making repairs during the race in the pits. They had to strap on some headlights so they could race at night.

Driver change at night for the #2.

The #1 during practice...it would look a lot different after racing at Sebring for 12 Hours!

The #2 and #3 during practice. The #3 was entered by Red Vogt and driven by Johnny Allen and George Robertson.

Jesse Coleman waving the checkered flag for the #1 Vette. Look at that front end!